Chapter 77 Section 77 Li Hongzhang builds the railway

After Chonghou arrived in Beijing, he was imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice without seeing the Empress Dowager Cixi. When the news reached Tianjin, Li Hongzhang was shocked again.Because he knew that beheading a minister if the contract was improper was not allowed by the "Public Law of the Nations".But he didn't dare to intercede for Chonghou anymore, so he sent a letter to Zeng Jize who was negotiating in the Russian capital through the British telegraph company in Shanghai, asking Zeng Jize to handle the matter. In his letter to Liu Mingchuan on the same day, Li Hongzhang said: "When negotiating with foreign countries, it is only about strength and weakness, but it is about integrity. Russia is the strongest in the West. It is not comparable to Britain, the United States, or France." He also said: "The Chinese and foreign rulers are suddenly very happy with their achievements, and they pursue it again and again. Yelling wildly, abandoning the covenant that has been made, can it be said that it is straightforward?"

When Li Hongzhang sent a report to Zeng Jize, the ministers of Britain, France, the United States, Japan, Germany and other countries stationed in Beijing had already sent notes to the Prime Minister's Office, condemning the practice of the Qing Dynasty for ignoring the "Public Law of the World". Prince Gong brought the notes from various countries into the palace and presented them to the Empress Dowager Cixi, but the Empress Dowager Cixi narrowed her eyes and said, "If I kill my own minister, what does the "Wan Guo Gong Law" have to do with him? His surname Wan is not my Qing Dynasty. The Supreme Emperor! These foreigners are really full! Ignore them!"

Prince Gong didn't dare to disobey the Empress Dowager Cixi's order, but the envoys from various countries became more and more violent, and they seemed to join forces to launch an attack.Prince Gong was so worried all day long that he didn't know what to do.At this time, all the lines of the Tianjin Telegraph Bureau were installed, and the Telegraph Bureau officially began to receive and receive telegrams. The first telegram Li Hongzhang received was "Please be merciful and respectful for death crimes" sent by Zeng Jize from St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia. Li Hongzhang was overjoyed when he saw it, and he had someone translate the telegram into words overnight, and quickly delivered it to Beijing.Empress Dowager Cixi finished reading Zeng Jize's book, pondered for a long time, and finally said: "Yes."

One day after dinner, Li Hongzhang sighed to Sheng Xuanhuai: "It is wrong for our country to regret the agreement of Chonghou, and to kill the minister who signed the agreement is also against the "Public Law of the World". Can you handle it?" Sheng Xuanhuai said at this time: "Fu Xiang, this Chonghou is also wrong. For such a big event as signing a contract, how can he draw a seal without asking for an order?" Li Hongzhang said: "We say that he signed the contract without asking for an order, but foreign countries don't think so. Chonghou's request for an order has nothing to do with them. They only look at the contract after the painting and seal. Cough, I don't know about the agreement just now. It’s hard for him to change it or not.”

Sheng Xuanhuai suddenly asked: "Fu Xiang, if the imperial court sends you to go to Russia to change the agreement that has already been made, can you change the agreement?" Hearing this, Li Hongzhang was speechless for a long while, just stroked his beard repeatedly with his hands, and finally said: "Xingsun, I have secretly guaranteed you to be the general office of the Tianjin Telegraph Bureau. You can't let me down!" He did not answer Sheng Xuanhuai's question. In October, Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, who supervised the military affairs of Xinjiang, went to Beijing under the imperial edict, and was awarded the Minister of Military Aircraft with a Bachelor of Dongge University to manage the Shenji Battalion.Liu Jintang, the commander of the old Hunan Army, was appointed as the imperial envoy and stayed in Xinjiang to supervise military affairs.

In November, in order to go to England to receive the two ordered iron-clad warships, and at the same time to show the coastal defense strength of the Qing Dynasty to the coastal countries, Li Hongzhang invited Ding Ruchang, the registered admiral of the Beiyang gunboat, and more than 200 people to drive it by himself. The China Merchants Steamship sailed to the UK. Just after the imperial court approved the plan, Li Hongzhang received a secret message from the Military Aircraft Office, saying that Liu Mingchuan, the governor of Fujian, asked to raise funds to try out the railway in the province. Proposal played.At the back of the secret letter is the original copy of Liu Mingchuan.

In fact, Liu Ming's request to try out the railway in the province was also a task assigned by Li Hongzhang long ago.As early as when Li Hongzhang was negotiating the Majiali case with Wade, it was when the homicide occurred on the Shanghai Songhu Railway. Li Hongzhang wrote a letter to Liu Mingchuan who was supervising the defense in Taiwan, and praised the railway as a convenient use for the world. As a result of nature, Liu Mingchuan invited Liu Mingchuan to watch it together in Shanghai after the Yunnan case was settled, thinking that it would be imitated in the future. It's a pity that the good times didn't last long. The railway and the trains built by the British were bought by the Qing Dynasty soon, the railway was demolished, and the train was thrown into the river. thing.

In the fifth year of Tongzhi (AD 1866), Ding Richang, the governor of Fujian, returned to his hometown to recuperate from his illness. Li Hongzhang secretly recommended Liu Mingchuan as the acting governor of Fujian. Rather than saying that it was Liu Mingchuan who asked to try out the railway in the province, it is better to say that Li Hongzhang was doing this under the guise of Liu Mingchuan.Therefore, less than ten days after the secret mail from the Military Aircraft Office to discuss this matter arrived, Li Hongzhang sent a discount on the "Negotiating Railway Matters" and talked about the three major benefits of railways: 1. It is convenient for transportation and can transport minerals out in time; Two, fast speed, save time; Three, benefit the country and the people.Fold said:

"In the early days of China's birth and people, the nine states and all nations were their own customs. Although within hundreds of miles, there were gaps and no ones connected. The sage cut wood for boats, and the wood for boats. The benefits of boats and boats are not available for financial aid. Cattle and horses lead heavy weights to far distances to benefit the world. Since more than 4,000 years, the east, west, and south have been on the same track and the same language, which can be described as a grand event. Up to now, the Thai and Western countries have researched precision instruments, created fire wheels, and boats and carts around the world. Ninety thousand miles, there is no obstacle, and outside the boats and carts made by the ancient sanctuary, there is a new idea to seize the work of nature and make it convenient for the people. China's imitation of ships has also gradually benefited from it. The people's hearts are from clumsiness to ingenuity, and the use of utensils is from simplicity But refinement, fashions come together by division, the general trend of nature in this world cannot be restrained by intellect. Check the system of fire wheels and carts, and the authority is in the coal mines of England. In the early years of Daoguang, railroad tracks were made to make wheels, and the method was gradually developed. It is used to transport and sell coal and iron, and it has made a lot of profits, so it has expanded its industrial and commercial affairs, and developed Europe. Since then, France, the United States, Russia, and Germany have successively operated, and all those who occupy neighboring territories and reclaim wasteland all have railways. To guide it first. Since there are many household registrations and prosperous trade, we must increase the number of railways to improve the future. From Europe and the United States, the connections extend in all directions, and the roads reach hundreds of thousands of miles. Recruitment can be reached overnight, and news can breathe The same...It is like Japan, which is a small country and builds railways within its borders. It claims to learn from Western skills, and it always has the heart to despise China...For today, when all countries have railways, China is the only one. After the Middle Ages, if the boats and carts were abandoned, it would be easy for others to follow them... Gai first took the road, although the situation in China was still partial, but Western countries were also in the same situation as China 50 years ago, but they deliberately built it. Competing to be the first to compete with others, so we have today's weather... Now that China has built railways, it has to develop coal and iron by itself, so as not to leak high fees to foreign countries. The coal and iron mines in Shanxi are very rich, and there are no rich merchants to manage them with huge capital. If the railway has both The start-up capital can be won by one-tenth of this, and the mining of coal and iron is imitated by machines and foreign methods, that is, the proceeds are used exclusively for the railway. The mining business will be prosperous due to the railway, and the railway will be repaired due to the mining business. The two work hand in hand.”

The booklet was quickly passed into the palace.After the Empress Dowager Cixi read it, she couldn't help smiling, and said, "What does Liu Mingchuan know? I knew it was Li Hongzhang's idea, so be sure." The imperial decree soon went to the Governor's Yamen in Fujian.After Liu Mingchuan received the decree, he was overjoyed. The next day, he listed the feudal secretary and appointed an alternate road to handle the matter. He also wrote to Li Hongzhang, asking Li Hongzhang to send people overseas to purchase railway materials and trains. Li Hongzhang hastily telegraphed Li Fengbao, the envoys stationed in Germany and concurrently stationed in Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands, to handle the matter.

Li Fengbao did not dare to be negligent when receiving the call, and immediately negotiated with the German train manufacturer, and quickly reached an agreement.A month later, the locomotive purchased by the governor's office in Fujian was shipped back to China from Germany, accompanied by technicians and operators provided by the manufacturer.When the ship arrived at the wharf in Fujian, Liu Mingchuan arranged for the payment and at the same time ordered the construction of roads and tracks; the locomotive was parked on the wharf and appointed to take care of it. It's a pity that Liu Mingchuan's move was not understood by the local people, and even the squires bewitched that digging the ground and laying the tracks would destroy Feng Shui and vent the earth's energy, and their children and grandchildren would suffer great disasters.As a result, a section of the railway was paved, and at night, groups of people would spontaneously destroy it and restore the road to its original shape. The dismantled rails were thrown into hidden water, claiming to feed bastards, leaving the government nowhere to salvage them. Soon, the locomotives docked at the pier also began to suffer: first, they were doused with dog blood and feces, and then they began to beat and kill the police officers who guarded the trains, until finally no one would accept the job. The millions of taels of silver that Liu Mingchuan had worked so hard to raise were wasted in vain. Liu Mingchuan's construction of the railway ended in failure.When the news came, Li Hongzhang was filled with emotion and felt helpless.In a letter he wrote to the master of Chinese studies, Wang Kaiyun, then head of Hengzhou Chuanshan Academy, he sighed: "In today's situation, it is necessary to harmonize the army outside, and reform the law inside. If the old ways remain unchanged, they will be weakened day by day, and an enemy will be added to a country. Since Qin's coup d'état and its defeat, later generations of kings have followed the law as their heart. Since Shang Yang and Wang Anshi reformed the law and punished them all, and later generations followed the law to please them. Today, every country is changing and prospering, and only China is cautious about obeying the law. It will be defeated and extinct without regret. God? Human? Do you know the reason for the evil?"